Our country is the land of "the golden fleece," and wherever you may be in
its vast domain, you are the one who must answer for yourself the
stupendous question--"To what height shall I attain?" You are like the man
in the "Arabian Nights" dropped into a valley filled with diamonds. It is
within your power to select that which is most valuable for your
enrichment. There are splendid opportunities on every hand, and whether
you shall grasp them or let them go, remains alone for you to determine.

The door of opportunity for the highest development of every individual,
in every phase of life, is ever open. Every golden moment holds something
of value for the earnest seeker, just as every flower holds in its bosom a
treasure for the thrifty bee. No one of us may ever have such splendid
opportunities as did the illustrious ones to whom we owe our present
inheritance. But at the threshold of our lives will ever come the veiled
figure with its gifts, and, however modest may be the treasures which it
brings, if we accept them and turn to good account all that they hold of
value to us, our reward will be truly great.

"Pull many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."




IV

The Active Hand